Arizona State men’s basketball joins 2025 Maui Invitational tournament
Oct 31, 2024, 3:26 PM | Updated: 3:35 pm
Center court is seen during the championship game of the 2021 Maui Invitational basketball tournament on November 24, 2021. (Photo by David Becker/Getty Images)
(Photo by David Becker/Getty Images)
Arizona State men’s basketball has joined the annual Maui Invitational tournament field for the 2025-26 season.
The tournament will take place at the Lahaina Civic Center from Nov. 24-26, 2025, right before Thanksgiving. The eight teams participating are ASU, Washington State, North Carolina State, Seton Hall, Texas, UNLV, USC and Chaminade.
The Sun Devils have played in the event five times before but not since 2007. ASU won the 1994 Maui Invitational with Bill Frieder as head coach and Mario Bennett winning the MVP award. Arizona State head coach Bobby Hurley won the 1992 Maui Invitational co-MVP while at Duke.
The Maui Invitational is a popular tournament in nonconference play, and ASU athletic director Graham Rossini is excited about the opportunity for exposure and preparing for Big 12 competition.
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“I think this will be the sixth time that we’ve competed in the Maui Invitational, but it’s been quite some time since we were there, and so it’s a good indicator that there’s a lot of national interest in our program now getting back into these elite nonconference tournaments,” Rossini told Arizona Sports’ Burns & Gambo on Thursday.
“That’s been Bobby’s MO, that’s the way we like to schedule the nonconferences. We’re not looking for cupcakes and a false sense of confidence going into, we know the Big 12 is going to be an enormous challenge. The Pac 12 was as well, but it serves a lot of our goals, unique experiences, a way to showcase the program on a national level, a way to really understand the talent and the things we need to continue to evolve.”
The Arizona Wildcats won the Maui Invitational in 2022, defeating Creighton in the final with Oumar Ballo taking home the MVP.
The Sun Devils will begin the 2024-25 season on Tuesday at home against Idaho State.
They will play a Thanksgiving nonconference tournament at Acrisure Arena in Palm Springs from Nov. 28-29, taking on New Mexico and either USC or Saint Mary’s.
Arizona State AD Graham Rossini tells @BurnsAndGambo that playing in the Maui Invitational next year serves a lot of the program's goals. pic.twitter.com/6qVwCixapk
— Arizona Sports (@AZSports) October 31, 2024
